After leaving pro baseball in 1980, Royle Stillman became a carpenter.

"Still am today," he says proudly.

It's a skill he had been honing for years. Because few Red Wings ever looked better with a piece of wood in their hands than Stillman, a sweet-swinging lefty whose .354 average in 1973 is the highest by a Wings player since Harry Walker hit .365 in 1952.

Stillman will be inducted into the Red Wings Hall of Fame on Friday night, along with two deceased former stars: 19th-century right-handed pitcher Bob Barr and 1930s outfield sensation Pepper Martin.

Stillman, 63, will be at Frontier Field for the pregame induction, marking his first visit to Rochester since his Red Wings' tenure ended in 1976.

"I'm really looking forward to it," he said earlier this week by phone from his home in Glenwood Springs, Colo. "It's an honor, and I'm really touched they remember all the fun years I had there."

It wasn't all fun and games. After his stellar 1973 season, the 22-year-old outfielder couldn't come to financial terms with the Orioles and was disappointed to be sent back to Triple-A. So he held out in spring training and the first three weeks of the season.

"I was backed up against (Orioles star outfielders) Al Bumbry, Don Baylor and Paul Blair," he said. "It was unusual that I held out, since I hadn't even played a game in the big leagues. In hindsight, it probably wasn't a good move."

Stillman returned in time to be part of an underrated but terrific Red Wings club that finished 88-56, won the International League North by 14 games and cruised to the Governors' Cup title under manager Joe Altobelli.

Stillman is the eighth member of that team to be enshrined in the Red Wings Hall of Fame, joining Altobelli, Jim Fuller, Jim Hutto, Bill Kirkpatrick, Paul Mitchell, Mickey Scott and Tommy Shopay. He hit .292 for those '74 champions, .313 in 1975 (again leading the Wings) and .292 in 56 games for a 1976 club that went 86-52 before being upset in the playoffs.

Stillman didn't reach the major leagues until 1975, and his tenure was short. He played in 13 games for the Orioles that year and 20 in 1976. He left via free agency and signed with the Chicago White Sox but played in only 56 games in 1977.

He finished his three-year major-league career with a .213 average. After three more years in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, he retired after the 1980 season.

"I wish I'd had a better big-league career," he said. "I got to the majors, but I couldn't get into the lineup."

He grew up in Southern California, a huge Dodgers fan who listened to Vin Scully on the radio and remembers attending a World Series game in 1965, when the Dodgers met the Minnesota Twins.

Four years later, Stillman found himself part of the Dodgers organization when the team selected him in the 22nd round of the baseball draft. In the prehistoric age before the Internet and Twitter, Stillman found out from an older brother who read it in the paper the next day.

"I was on Cloud 9," he said. "I started my career a few days after graduating from high school."

Stillman reached Double-A, but his boyhood dream of playing for the Dodgers ended on Dec. 2, 1971, when he was sent to the Orioles in a six-player deal that featured future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson.

"I was kind of bummed out," Stillman said. "I wanted to stay with the Dodgers."

Stillman says his swing was "self-taught" while growing up in Southern California. It was good enough to impress Dixie Walker, a former Wings manager who hit .306 over his major-league career.

"I remember when Dixie was a coach with the Dodgers, he had a special time with me in Vero Beach (the Dodgers' former spring training home). He watched me for 20 minutes and said I was doing everything right."

Stillman became a fixture in Rochester, where he hit .314 over 387 games. He wasn't a power hitter — he finished his Wings career with 27 home runs and 209 RBI. But he was a fan favorite, in part because of his California good looks and his sweet swing.

"He was very cute," longtime Wings season seatholder Norma McNair said. "He was a left fielder, but I was really happy when they moved him to first base. That meant he was right in front of where I sat.

"You could always count on him to get great hits. Not so many home runs, but he was always on base. And he was very fan friendly. He always had a smile and a minute to talk."

McNair got a chance to see Stillman late in his career, when he was in the PCL with Ogden and Salt Lake.

"He would always leave tickets and take time to talk and catch up," she said. "That held true when he was in the majors with the Orioles and White Sox. Never had to buy a ticket and was always greeted with a smile and a hug."

Stillman and wife Cindy have been married 26 years and have three daughters in their 20s: Ali, Carly and Sadey. Cindy will accompany him Friday, when he steps foot in Rochester for the first time in 38 years.

Stillman follows the Colorado Rockies these days, although he admits, "They're horrible this year and not easy to watch."

He was happy to learn that former teammate Gary Robson, who threw a perfect game in 1974, was warmly embraced by the fans during a recent visit to Frontier Field.

"It's nice that the fans remember," he said. "I have great memories of Silver Stadium. It seemed like the place was packed every night. It was the flagship stadium in the league.

Joining Royle Stillman to form the Red Wings Hall of Fame Class of 2014 will be two deceased players:

Bob Barr: A right-handed starting pitcher for Rochester in 1886 and from 1888-1890, he went 97-58 across four seasons with Rochester. In 1889, his 30 victories led the International League after posting a career-high 35 wins in 1888. Rochester played its lone season of Major League Baseball in 1890 with Barr anchoring the pitching staff. His 493 innings pitched and 28 wins paced Rochester that season.

Pepper Martin: Enjoyed a fantastic 1930 season for the Red Wings, hitting .363 with 71 extra-base hits – including 20 home runs – which helped springboard him to a 13-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals. A four-time All-Star with the Cardinals, Martin was a career .298 hitter with 59 homers and 501 RBI over 1,189 major-league games. Martin returned to Rochester in 1943, playing in 49 games for the Red Wings